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' |image= |series= |production=40510-489 |producer(s)= |story= |script= Jane Espenson |director= Les Landau |imdbref=tt0708497 |guests=Richard Libertini as Akorem Laan, Rosalind Chao as Keiko O'Brien, Hana Hatae as Molly O'Brien, Camille Saviola as Kai Opaka and Robert Symonds as Vedek Porta |previous_production=Bar Association |next_production=Rules of Engagement |episode=DS9 S04E016 |airdate= 26 February 1996 |previous_release=Bar Association |next_release=(DS9) Rules of Engagement (Overall) Lifesigns |story_date(s)=Unknown |group="N"}} (2372) |previous_story=Bar Association |next_story= Lifesigns Innocence }} Summary A centuries old Bajoran vessel mysteriously exits the wormhole, and its passenger, a legendary Bajoran named Akorem Laan, is immediately beamed to the Infirmary. Shocked to learn that more than 200 years have passed since he left Bajor, he tells Sisko and Kira that he had an accident in space and was saved by the Bajoran Prophets, which led him to believe that they have chosen him to be the Emissary. Sisko, who was never comfortable with the assumption that he was Emissary, steps aside to let Akorem assume the revered position. Soon afterward, Akorem makes his first public address, telling the crowd that the prophets chose him to return Bajor to the old ways — including strict adherence to a caste system that restricts people to specific "D'jarras," or occupations. Sisko is disturbed, since caste-based discrimination goes against the Federation Charter, which will cause Bajor to be excluded from the membership, but Akorem is convinced he is following the wishes of the Prophets. That evening, Sisko is so troubled, he has a nightmare and is unable to get back to sleep. He goes for a walk on the Promenade and encounters a vision of Kai Opaka, who warns Sisko that he does not know himself. Bashir tells Sisko that he experienced an "Orb Shadow" — a phenomenon encountered by people who've been exposed to the Bajoran orbs, but which only occurs if the advice the Prophets tried to give has been ignored. Later, Sisko reveals to Kira that he believes he has failed in his mission to bring Bajor into the Federation. Kira assures him that it isn't his fault, but complicates his dilemma by telling him she plans to resign her post to follow her D'jarra and become an artist. Sisko's contemplative mood is interrupted when Odo summons him to the Promenade — a Bajoran monk has died. Vedek Porta states that he is responsible, saying he pushed the man to his death because he refused to resign, even though his family's D'jarra is "unclean." Appalled, Sisko requests another meeting with Akorem and admits that giving up his position as Emissary was a mistake, then reveals that he is forced to challenge Akorem's claim. Since they have no other way of proving which is the real Emissary, Sisko suggests that the two of them go to the wormhole and ask the Prophets. In the wormhole, the aliens within reveal that Akorem was sent into the future for Sisko — the true Emissary. At Sisko's suggestion, the aliens return the dejected Akorem to his own time, to live out his life without any memory of the future. Sisko is finally convinced that he is the Emissary and ready to handle the responsibility. Errors and Explanations Nit Central # Keith Alan Morgan (Kmorgan) on Monday, September 11, 2000 - 11:24 pm: In the early years of the show none of the Bajorans seemed to care that Sisko was The Emissary, but now he's a really big deal. Too bad no one felt that way during The Homecoming, The Circle, & The Siege, when the Federation & Sisko were ordered to leave Bajor and when some Bajorans would have willingly killed Sisko. The change in attitude could be due, in part, to how the Bajoran population reacted to the revelations from the events in those episodes, as well as how Sisko stayed behind to prevent a hostile takeover. # Well, the D'jarra, or caste system, certainly explains why the spoonheads were able to take over Bajor so easily. The Bajoran thinking process had obviously atrophied making them think that if you were born to a family you had to follow that family's career. The idea that someone could only be an artist if they were born in the right family is brain dead beyond belief. One either has that creative streak within them or they don't. Kira tells Sisko, "It's not our place to question the Emissary.", but she herself had argued with Sisko many times before. Mike Nuss on Saturday, April 09, 2005 - 3:51 pm: It took a while before Kira came to think of Sisko as the Emmissary, and she really only argued with Sisko in the beginning. BARA on Saturday, June 11, 2005 - 9:33 am: Kira might recognize Sisko as the Emissary, but that's not going to stop her from arguing with him on how to run the station - ie, stuff that has nothing to do with the Bajoran faith. The separation of Church and State, and all that :-) Duke of Earl Grey on Tuesday, June 28, 2005 - 7:01 pm: I imagine that if Sisko had claimed all his decisions were the will of the Prophets, that Kira would not have argued with him, or would have at least had a struggle of faith before arguing. I guess where the Bajorans are concerned, the Emissary is only the Emissary when he is acting as such, but early on at least, Sisko never claimed to be doing anything on the instruction or will of the Prophets. # John A. Lang on Tuesday, November 18, 2003 - 6:38 pm: Once again the turbolift leaves Ops without anyone telling the thing their destination. By dotter31 on Wednesday, June 07, 2006 - 7:35 pm: This is not a problem, they probably said it after it started, since the only place to go is down. It may even have a preset destination unless it is overriden by the user (again, since it can only go down from Ops) ' # ''Admirable Chrichton on Wednesday, September 22, 2004 - 7:54 am: So the Federation doesn't approve of caste systems in its member worlds. Didn’t seem to bother them when they admitted planet Ardana (See The Cloud Minders TOS), which was a world with floating cities where the wealthy lived, and the surface where the workers did all the menial tasks, this could be described as a ...er well caste system really!! ''LUIGI NOVI on Saturday, November 06, 2004 - 1:13 am:'' Was Ardana explicitly established to be a Federation world? When Kirk and Spock showed up, it appeared that they were unaware of the caste system, which means that perhaps the Federation was too. Josh Gould (Jgould) on Saturday, November 06, 2004 - 1:55 pm: Maybe the Federation later changed that policy, perhaps following the events at Ardana? Seniram Assuming the Federation knew the truth about the Ardana situation before the events shown in the episode!' # ''Jonathan (Jon0815) on Wednesday, February 08, 2012 - 9:54 am: So the Prophets send Akorem back in time, and instead of disappearing for 200+ years, he returns to Bajor and finishes his unfinished poem. Since Akorem was a well-known historical figure on Bajor- Kira mentions near the beginning of the episode that every schoolchild is familiar with one of his poems- this change should produce significant butterfly effects. However, in the new timeline, we see no differences at all, other than the existence of the finished poem. In fact, according to the conversation between Sisko and Kira at the end of the episode, even the episode's events unfolded the same way as before. In which case, Akorem's emergence from the wormhole in the present, and his claim that he last entered it in the Bajoran year 9174, must have been very confusing, given that in the new timeline it is a historical fact that he was on Bajor after 9174, and that his eventual death was presumably well documented. John A. Lang (Johnalang) on Friday, October 21, 2016 - 8:27 pm: If the Prophets knew Akorem was from the past...why send him to the present? I thought Sisko explained linear time quite well to the Prophets. R W F Worsley (Notanit) on Sunday, February 19, 2017 - 5:11 am: They wanted Sisko to understand the importance of him retaining his position as the Emmisary! Notes Category:Episodes Category:Deep Space Nine